THE STRATEGIC CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGEMENT PROCESS

STRATEGIC SUB PROCESS

Develop Customer Service
Management

Develop Response Produce

Develop Infrastructure for Implement

Response Procedure

Develop Framework of Metrics

ACTIVITIES
Define staffing needs
Define deliverables
Operational trigger and signals
Determine events that
require response
Determine appropriate
response procedure
for each type of event
Define internal and external
coordination
Determine information
system needs
Determine communication
Classify
needs events
Identify operational
problems/improvements
opportunities

4-1

THE OPERATIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGEMENT

OPERATIONAL SUB PROCESS

Recognize Event

Evaluate Situation and

Alternatives

Implement Solution

Monitor and Report

ACTIVITIES

Identify event
Determine nature of event
Coordinate with functions to determine
alternative actions
Decide how to respond to the event
Determine implementation steps
Coordinate with business process
owners or function managers
processing the request
Respond to event
Monitor the evolution of the event
Record event log
Keeps customer informed
4-2
Measure performance

HOW SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIP AFFECTS ECONOMIC VALUE ADDED(EVA)

Supplier Relationship Managements Impact

Sales

Increase product quality

Improve order fill rates
Improve manufacturing processes
Reduce cost of direct material
Improve plant productivity

Increase productivity
Reduce freight and indirect labor, warehouse costs
Optimize physical network/facilities
Reduce order management costs
Reduce information system costs
Reduce human resources cost/improve effectiveness
Reduce general overhead/management /administrative costs
Reduce purchased goods inventories
Reduce work in process inventories
Reduce finished goods inventories

Improve asset utilization and rationalization(warehousing and plant)

Improve investment planning and deployment

Cost of
Goods sold

Total
Expenses

Inventory

Fixed
Assets
4-3

Sales

Gross
Margin

Profit from Operations

Net Profit
Cost
of
Goods
sold

Total Expanses

Inventory

Taxes

Current assets
Total Asset

Fixed assets

Other current
assets

EVA

Cost of Capital
%
4-4

Customer Service Defined

Customer service is generally presumed to be a means by which
companies attempt to differentiate their product, keep customers
loyal, increase sales, and improve profits.

Its elements are:

- Price
- Product quality
- Service

It is an integral part of the marketing mix of:

-

Price
Product
Promotion
Physical Distribution

Customer service
here

Relative importance of service elements

- Physical distribution variables dominate price, product, and

promotional considerations as customer service considerations
- Product availability and order cycle time are dominant physical
distribution variables

CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

4-5

Customer Service Elements

Customer
service

Pretransaction
elements
Written statement
of policy
Statement in hands
of customer
Organizational
structure
System flexibility
Technical services

CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

Transaction
elements
Stockout level
Ability to back
order
Elements of order
cycle
Time
Transship
System accuracy
Order conveniences
Product substitution

Posttransaction
elements
Installation, warranty
alterations, repairs,
parts
Product tracking
Customer claims,
complaints
Product packaging
Temporary
replacement of
product during repairs
4-4

Common Customer Service

Complaints
31%
Product or quality
mistakes

12% Damaged
goods
7%
Other
6%
Frequently cut
items

44%
Late delivery
CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

4-7

Penalties for Customer Service

Failures
29%
Reduced the
volume of
business

2%
Refused to
support
promotion
16%
Discontinued
items

18%
Stopped all
purchases
with supplier

9%
Refused to
purchase new
items

CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

26%
Called in
salesman or
manager

4-8

Most Important Customer

Service Elements

On-time delivery
Order fill rate
Product condition
Accurate documentation
CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

4-9

Appraise This Measure

of Logistics Customer Service

Percent of customer orders

shipped by customer request date
Parker-Hannifin Corp.

CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

4-10

Order Cycle Time

Order cycle time contains the basic elements of customer service

where logistics customer service is defined as:
the time elapsed between when a customer order, purchase order, or
service request is placed by a customer and when it is received by that
customer.

Order cycle elements

- Transport time
- Order transmittal time
- Order processing and assembly time
- Production time
- Stock availability

Order cycle time is expressed as a bimodal frequency distribution

Constraints on order cycle time
- Order processing priorities
- Order condition standards (e.g., damage and filling accuracy)
- Order constraints (e.g., size minimum and placement schedule)
CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

4-11

Components of a Customer Order Cycle

Customer
order
transmittal
CUSTOMER
Retail outlet

WAREHOUSE
Order processing
and assembly
Transmittal of
backorder
items
Order
delivery

Express
order
delivery
CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

FACTORY
Order processing,
assembly from stock,
or production if no
stock
4-10

Importance of Logistics Customer Service

Service affects sales
- From a GTE/Sylvania study:
...distribution, when it provides the proper
levels of service to meet customer needs, can
lead directly to increased sales, increased
market share, and ultimately to increased profit
contribution and growth.
- Service differences have been shown to
account for 5 to 6% variation in supplier sales

Service affects customer patronage

- Service plays a critical role in maintaining the
customer base:
On the average it is approximately 6 times
more expensive to develop a new customer
than it is to keep a current one.
CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

4-13

Service Observations
The dominant customer service elements
are logistical in nature

Late delivery is the most common service

complaint and speed of delivery is the most
important service element

The penalty for service failure is primarily

reduced patronage, i.e., lost sales

The logistics customer service effect on

sales is difficult to determine

CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

4-14

Modeling a Sales-Service
Relationship
A mathematical expression of the level of service

provided and the revenue generated

It is needed to find the optimal service level
A theoretical basis for the relationship
Methods for determining the curve in practice

- Two-points method
- Before-after experiments
- Game playing
- Buyer surveys
CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

Remember
Revenue in
ROLA

4-15

Sales-Service Relationship by
the Two-Points Method

Sales

Approximation by
two-points method

0
0
CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

Logistics customer service level

4-16

Sales
Threshold

Diminishing returns

Decline

Sales-Service Relationship

Range of
transition

Range of
transition

0
0
CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

Increasing logistics customer service level

of a supplier to the best of its competition

4-15

Determining Optimum Service Levels

Cost vs. service
Theory
-Optimum profit is the point where profit
contribution equals marginal cost
Practice
-For a constant rate,
P = trading margin sales response rate
annual sales
C = annual carrying cost standard product
cost demand standard deviation
over replenishment lead-time z
Set P = C and find z corresponding to a
specific service level
CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

4-18

Generalized Cost-Revenue Tradeoffs

Revenue

Costs or sales

Profit
maximization

Logistics
costs

Improved logistics customer service

4-17

Determining Optimum Service Levels

(Contd)
Example

- Given the following data for a particular product

Sales response rate = 0.15% change in revenue
for a 1% change in the
service level (fill rate)
Trading margin = $0.75 per case
Carrying cost = 25% per year
Annual sales through the warehouse = 80,000 cases
Standard product cost = $10.00
Demand standard deviation = 500 cases over LT
Lead time = 1 week
CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

4-20

Determining Optimum Service Levels

(Contd)
Find P
P = 0.75 0.0015 80,000
= $90.00 per year
Find C
C = 0.25 10.00 500 z
= 1250 z
Set P = C and solve for z, i.e., 90.00/1250 = z
z = 0.072
For the change in z found in a normal distribution table,
the optimal in-stock probability during the lead time
(SL*) is about 92%.
CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

4-21

SL Levels in % for Various z Values

SL (%)
U L
87-86
88-87
89-88
90-89
91-90
92-91
93-92
94-93
95-94
96-95
97-96
98-97
99-98

zU

zL

1.125-1.08
1.17 -1.125
1.23 -1.17
1.28 -1.23
1.34 -1.28
1.41 -1.34
1.48 -1.41
1.55 -1.48
1.65 -1.55
1.75 -1.65
1.88 -1.75
2.05 -1.88
2.33 -2.05

=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=

z
0.045
0.045
0.05
0.05
0.06
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.10
0.10
0.13
0.17
0.28

*Developed from entries in a normal distribution table

CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

4-22

Graphically Setting the Service Level

350

Change in
safety
stock cost, C

300

$/year

250
200
150

Change in gross profit, P

100
50
0
87-86 88-87 89-88 90-89 91-90 92-91 93-92 94-93 95-94 96-95 97-96 98-97 99-98

Probability of being in stock during replenishment lead time, %

CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

4-23

Optimizing on Service
Performance Variability
Setting service variability according to Taguchi

A loss function of the form L k ( y - m)2

Cost penalty, L

L = loss in $
k = a constant to be determined
y = value of the service variable
m = the target value of the service variable
Service penalty only if outside this
rangeTraditional

Missing target causes

increasing penalty
Taguchi
Target
Service variable, m

y
CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

4-24

Optimizing on Service
Performance Variability (Contd)
Setting the allowable deviation from the target service level m is
to optimize the sum of penalty cost for not meeting the service
target and the cost of producing the service.

TC = service penalty cost + service delivery cost

If the service delivery cost is of the general form DC = A - B(y-m),
then find the optimum allowed deviation from the service target.
2
TC k ( y - m ) A - B( y - m )
dTC
2k ( y - m ) 0 - B 0
d ( y - m)
B
Marginal delivery cost =
y -m
marginal penalty cost
2k

If m is set to 0, y is the optimal deviation allowed from target

CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

4-25

Service Variability Example

Find k
L k ( y - m )2
3 k( 10 - 0 )2
3
0.03
2
10
and y if m is taken as 0
k

y -0

Cost penalty, $

Example Pizzas are to be delivered in 30 minutes (target.)

Pizzas delivered more than 10 minutes late incur a penalty of
$3 off the pizza bill. Delivery costs are estimated at $2, but
decline at the rate of $0.15 for each minute deviation from
target. How much variation should be allowed in the delivery
service?
Convert fixed penalty to
Taguchi-style loss curve
3

40
30
Delivery service, min

0.15
2.5 minutes
2(0.03)

No more than 2.5 minutes should be allowed from the 30minute delivery target to minimize cost.

4-26

Setting Service Levels

Service treated as a constraint on design

Planning for service contingencies
Measuring Service Performance
Percent of sales on backorder
No. of stockouts
Percent of on-time deliveries
No. of inaccurate orders
Most comprehensive
Order cycle time
Fill rate--% of demand met, % of orders
filled complete, etc.
CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

4-27

Service Contingencies
System Breakdown Actions
Insure the risk
Plan for alternate supply sources
Arrange alternate transportation
Shift demand
Build quick response to demand shifts
Set inventories for disruptions
Product Recall Actions
Establish a task force committee
Trace the product
Design a reverse logistics channel
CR (2004) Prentice Hall, Inc.

4-28